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Onigokko (IC Thread)

The day had started just like any other day. You woke at your regular time and went about your normal morning routine with just enough time to get to school. Lectures remained an utter bore, lunch was completely uneventful, and what would seem like another peaceful day seemingly drifts by as if nonexistent. When the final bell rings, the students and faculty prepare to go home to enjoy the upcoming Golden Week. That is to say, all except for you. For those who are members of the Homurahara Occult & Horror Club, the day has yet to come to an end.

As the sun ventures beyond the horizon and the dim red light fades from the hallways, you and the other members gather in a "special" classroom on the third year floor. The room itself contains an atmosphere akin to hollowed ground. The air is unusually heavy considering how easy it is to take it. With each breath you take, it's as if a heavy stone rests within your lungs and dissipates as you exhale. All of the desks have been pushed to the side in haphazard arrangements and simple formations to accommodate whomever has chosen to use them as a seat. The lights which buzz endlessly during the day have been neglected in favor of candlelight and the faint glow of the moon illuminates what the ghostly flames can not.

"Hmm...I thought I marked that page..."

Amongst the blending of static rain and idle chatter, you hear the president's voice above all else. This is likely due to the nature of the meeting; "a special late-night event that all shall remember". Bearing this in mind, your eyes once again drift to the center of the room where what appears to be a ceremonial circle has been drawn. You've always known Haruka to have an eerie aura about her, but this has long since surpassed anything she has done in the past. Furthermore, the peculiar tattered tome which she has been attentively flipping through for the past ten minutes is continuing to draw your suspicion.

"Hey, Haruka," the vice president who has been standing next her the whole time finally speaks up, "Don't you think we should just get on with this? I'm sure it'll be fine if you can't find one little ghost story."

"Just wait a minute, will ya!? I know I can find it!"

With that being said, you begin to feel an unnatural sense of unease. It was as if something terribly unavoidable was about to happen...

Prelude to the NightmareWelcome to this little game we like to call Onigokko. I am the "Director". If you are reading this, then you are either a very brave soul or a fool to be punished. But for now, I suppose we can allow you a brief moment of peace. After all, the festival of carnage doesn't have to begin just yet. We'll have the rest of eternity to spend together either way~

If you care to enjoy this last precious moment of peace, perhaps you'd like to briefly introduce your character? It doesn't matter to me...

When you're ready to begin the game, just walk up to Haruka at the front of the class and ask "did you find it yet". I'll be eagerly awaiting those words. So try not to keep me waiting for too long~

Many rumors had been floating around Fukuda Masahiro lately. Some students secretly worshipped him as a defender of the weak; others just thought of him as the average troublemaker. Truth was that, either out of respect or out of fear, not many had had the courage to approach him and have a normal conversation. Thus, it could be said that the boy did not have any real friends to hang out with. It was thanks to this that fate had one day signed him up as a member of Homurahara Occult and Horror Club. Unlike many, the seventeen year old brunette did believe in the supernatural and was enthusiastic to learn new things about the occult. The reason for this was that, well, he had seen it with his very own eyes.

Yes. Fukuda Masahiro had a secret. He was a magus.

If you could call him that. Having awakened his powers recently, he was nothing more than an amateur. Indeed, he had not been properly raised as a Magus, nor had he been aware of his status in the magic world before the moment his magic circuits activated for the very first time. Since then, he had been tried to find about his biological parents and their whereabouts, and the club was just another mean of knowing how their lives might have been like.

His eyes wandered around the room, before fixing themselves on the magic circle drawn on the floor. Matsuhiro could not help but feel curious about it. Did the president have the intention to summon some kind of mystic creature? If so, and if she were successful... Maybe that could help him understand better. But from what he had been told, this was supposed to be a late-night horror story session, so probably nothing out of the ordinary would happen again that day.

It had been a while and Fukuda was beginning to feel a little uneasy. Maybe it was because the president, Kuromusi Haruka, had not found that ghost story yet. He decided he might as well see if he could lend her a hand. Standing up, he walked up to her and Justin, the vice-president.
"Yo, Pres. Did you find it yet?"

[18:30] RacingeR: Max S.Link with hero is when you promise your daughter to him
[18:31] RacingeR: Which means Airen and me are the only ones that maxed it (I promised Spin to him, and Spin is my daughter)
[18:32] hero: oh shit
[18:32] hero: spincess get
[18:32] hero: suck it fuckers

The end of a school day, the time of day where students pour forth from the school without regret, embracing their social lives in an attempt to lessen the stress that always seems to weigh heavily upon the minds of students. Looking down at them from a window with a small smile, I feel a sudden urge to leave along with them, to ignore my club for the day, and simply embrace the carelessness that is commonly associated with youth. Straightening my posture as the last of the students disappeared, I quietly brushed aside the strands of hair that had fallen into my eyes, pushing the thought of leaving school early from my mind as I did so.

I believed in punctuality after all, and as people expected me to be at the club today, than I would do my best to be there at the agreed upon time, which, if the fact that the sun had disappeared was any indicator, would be in just a few minutes...

Thankfully, I was close enough to the room that being late wasn't really something I needed to worry about, in fact, if I turned around now, I could see into the darkened interior of the Club Room, which seemed to have forgone use of electricity in favor of candlelight.

The president was really trying to get that 'creepy' atmosphere, wasn't she?

Slightly amused at this thought, I finally shook off my urge to stay in the hallway, and stepped into the Club Room, the large, seemingly ceremonial circle in the middle of the room being the first thing to draw my attention, simply because it was the first time Haruka had seen fit to draw such a thing. Ominous rumors were passed around the school about the Homurahara Occult & Horror Club, and seeing something like that, I vaguely wondered if perhaps there was a bit more truth to those stories than I had initially credited them with...

No, looking back on them now, the rumors were clearly exaggerated, and I didn't really believe in the supernatural, although the stories I heard here were still rather interesting in spite of that fact.

No one said anything to me as I entered the room, which didn't really surprise me that much. I kept to myself for the most part when I was at school, and even though I didn't really mean to act cold to others, it seems that the way I responded to people politely shot down most attempts at conversation.

Or at least, that was what I had learned from the rumors that were floating around the school about me, and to be honest, I didn't know how to respond too accusations that I 'didn't smile.'

And my brother... Well... He was a nice guy, and a good friend, but he was kinda... Weird...

My current lack of friends other than my only sibling aside, it seemed that the president was having a hard time locating a certain ghost story. I vaguely thought about getting up to help her look, but just as I was rising from my desk, one of my fellow club members, Fukuda, I think, approached her with appeared to be the same intent, so it was pointless for me to get up as well.

Sinking back down into my desk, I vaguely wondered exactly where my brother was anyway...

Spoiler:

Death is nothing but a disease.
But it is one that often comes from all sides.
An end like that is coming, and yet here you are.

Tell me.

Could you kill someone you love for the sake of everyone else?

What a cynical worldview, Messiah.
Real heroes would find a different answer.

He had to admit that this time, the president had really outdone herself. Although it obviously wasn't the first time he had been there, he couldn't help but feel there was something different about this room. It was a primitive feeling he couldn't quite get to grasp, a fear engraved deep within every single inch of his body. Although technically a magus, it'd have been just a year since he awakened his circuits, and he only knew what that guy had taught him when he wasn't busy doing whatever he pleased. Most likely, if he would have had just a bit more of knowledge, he would have left the room this very instant. However, scientific rationality was still engraved in his head, and he shook off that feeling.

Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.

He could feel the echoes of his heartbeat in his neck and head. The muscles in his back and neck were tensed. This was not the sort of situation that threatened. The candlelights. The circle. The Moon. This did not feel like a ghost story at all. Ghost stories were supposed to be menacing.

This was more like a promise.

There was something else in the air. They say every man has a secret, and the atmosphere was perfect for everyone to look onto themselves and reflect upon their secrets and inner conflicts. He was not an exception. He had a decision to make. His thoughts clashed against each other, making all of them unintelligible.

"Yo, Pres. Did you find it yet?"

As Fukuda spoke, the tension in the air and his thoughts dissipated a little. Damn moron, can't you read the atmosphere at all? Although he wanted to say that, he couldn't help but feel slightly thankful to him. From what he knew, he was a nice guy, the sort that'd help out others. It was from him that he heard about this Horror and Occult club, and met the president. He couldn't help but smile, deep inside, at how right the president was in her suspicion that the supernatural existed. He and his own body were living proof of that.

Lying back, debating between running away and staying back, he sat on the desk an waited.

[22:42] <Leo> look it's not our fault we can function properly with a cock in our mouthes

Usotsuki's azure eyes fluttered nervously with anticipation as he ran as fast as he could without killing himself. He had just temporarily left campus to buy himself an after-school snack as usual, a habit of his that he inadvertently had developed as time went on. He did it quite often, but always with enough time for him to make it back to the clubroom in time for Haruka's nightly festivities.

Tonight, for whatever reason, it had gone wrong.

Who knows what exactly caused it to happen? The lines could have been longer than usual. The cashier could have been slower than usual. The customers in front of him could have been more incompetent than they normally were. He might have been slower to eat it this time than the other times. He might have even accidentally fallen asleep as a result of having stayed up incredibly late the night before watching his daily quotient of anime. It might have been any of these things that could have factored into his tardiness. But the fact remained...

He was probably late.

'Christ,' he mumbled mentally, 'Now I really wish I had super speed to get me there in a flash. No sense complaining about reality's limitations, I suppose. For now, I gotta get to that clubroom A-S-A-P!!!!!!!!!'

The clopping of his shoes echoed into the night, taking him all the way to the local park.

While Usotsuki was unfamiliar of the numerous shortcuts he had taken to get to here, he was not unaware of this park. True, he had never really gone out of his way to check it out on his own, but the fact remained that he certainly knew of this park in the first place.

And for some reason the park had a heavy atmosphere.
In fact, the atmosphere was almost unbearable.

Usotsuki steeled himself and continued to run fearlessly, cutting right through the park.

McJon01: We all know that the real reason Archer would lose to Rider is because the events of his own Holy Grail War left him with a particular weakness toward "older sister" types.

Merry had a tendency to be one of the last members to show up; whenever the club had a meeting, it was a safe bet that everybody else would arrive first. There was a reason, of course; though Merry would never dare speak them aloud, the simple fact was that the teenager tended to spend a bit of time getting ready. The moment school was over, it was a quick dash to a secluded bathroom stall to change; to this day, few people had ever seen Merry in uniform outside of a classroom. It had even gotten to the point that some believed that the "strange, quiet girl from the occult club" didn't attend Homuhara. Still, Merry insisted on keeping up this habit, even if it was inconvenient at times.

Today, however, was special. Their activities began in the evening - which should have left ample time for Merry to get ready and show up early. However, while Merry had arrived on time, the club had still been without its member for most the evening. The atmosphere had quite an effect on the youth, after all. Just by being in this room, Merry had become visibly unnerved - soft shivering and cold sweat merely being the first signs of how badly it had shaken the kid. Whenever a story had actually started, Merry ended up walking out - unable to listen to any more than the very beginning of any tale.

Eventually, however, the time to steel one's nerves came, and Merry returned to the room one last time. At the very least, it wouldn't do to miss whatever the president had prepared for them; that was the whole point of the meeting, after all. Rejoining the circle, Merry took a deep breath and readied for the worst.

Most everyone didn't seem to notice me as they entered. Understandable: I'd been here since the end of school reading and taking notes, having nothing better to do, curled up in a corner; the fading light hid me away. Just as I liked it - the less the World noticed me, the better. Regrettably, though, this would require interaction.

Sighing, I threw my notebook into my bag, then sliding it over my shoulder. I stood up, drifting out of my corner.

The president was... tiresome at times, and at this moment in particular. Moonlit magic circles, candles... it was an atmosphere more suited for some kind of story intended to scare children than serious work. Why one would want it to be harder to see when working with things such as these eluded me. But then again, I guess it was to be expected that she was doing it wrongly.

Waste of my time. I wonder, why did I even join this 'club'? I had to have known it would be more those obsessed with counterculture and rebellion than serious investigation. But, what's done is done, and to change now would cause unnecessary suspicion.

With another sigh, I perched on the top of a desk, watching the president scramble for her story. This was going to be a long night.

Originally Posted by asterism42

That time they checked out that hot guy they were just admiring his watch, yeah?

Despite being on one corner of the classroom, she was definitely very noticeable. A beauty with hair and eyes the color of recently spilled blood, it was not hard to see why everyone called her "Crimson". In reality, it was possible that very few knew her real name, and there were no real motives for people to know it, seeing as she was not someone with many friends. Except for one special case, though it was not something that normal people would call a friendship.

There was a group of boys in the school that had found her very attractive, and they would probably be surprised if they saw her as she was now, lazing at the top of a desk in a decidedly unfeminine, yet cat-like way. The spot she had chosen was perfect for observing everything on the room, and so, one could expect her to be always there, silently seeking entertainment in the people that moved around. And today, she was calmly sitting in her usual spot.

However, today she seemed to be different. Her half-smile betrayed her unusual good mood, as if she enjoyed the unease that was felt in the room. She could tell that something was going to happen soon.

Something entertaining.

And the wait just made it all the more sweeter.

quotes

Originally Posted by Mike1984

Besides, I don't see what's so terrible about looting anyway. It's only property, they're not actually harming anyone.

Originally Posted by lantzblades

when I say hero I don't mean hero in the spirit sense. I mean a morally grounded, good natured person who doesn't slaughter innocent people. No such person exists in the Nasuverse.

[00:12] <~Katie> i can't defy my origin
[00:12] <~Katie> of gay memes

[16:15] <~Katie> lesbians has always been my gimmick and i will exploit it to the fullest

[22:56] <@Sei> airen is pegging hero this time
[22:56] <@Sei> for once airen isn't the uke
[22:56] <@Kuroyuki> I thought Air was the Woman in the Relationship?
[22:56] <@Airen> Yeah I kinda thought I was the girl too!

Out the corner of her eye Maiko saw more and more members slowly trickling into the classroom. She came as early as possible, waiting at the school grounds with a book to kill time until the event started, and continued to read even as the classroom filled with the members of the Homurahara Occult and Horror Club.
Dad was at one of his business trips again, and she could not stand being alone with her brother any longer than she needed to. He wasn't any better than her classmates in treating her.

But in this club the people were nice to her, or at least nicer than her classmates. Also, most of them shared her passion for ghost stories, so she had less problems with connecting to them as she would have with others. Contact with people her age was something she desired, despite being very shy. Maybe it was the reason for her bullying problems. Maybe it was her weak body. Maybe people just didn't like her. Here it didn't matter anyway.

As she finished the chapter she laid her book down, now closely inspecting the room. The circle in the middle of the room made her think about some stories she read, about careless youths summoning beings beyond their imagination. It made her feel uneasy. As much as she liked horror stories, being part of one wasn't what she wanted. The role of an observer is always more entertaining in such a scenario, after all a big part of the enjoyment of horror stories and movies was the fact that one was not the person in danger. It could be compared to visiting a zoo, looking at dangerous animals in a safe enviroment, free of any hazard, but still being able to experience what was not possible to experience in everyday life.

She was dragged out of her train of thoughts by Fukuda walking towards the president.
Fukuda was someone very special to her, even if he barely knew her. He was a brave young man, and he once took care of annoying classmates who tried to burn one of her books with the trash. To her he was something like a modern day knight, helping the helpless. Sadly, she never had the guts to tell him that she developed a crush on him, but she would certainly do so...someday.

The man leaned against the wall of the hallway and let out a yawn. He blearily covered an eye with his hand and sighed.

"Kids these days..." He said to himself. "They sure have interesting things to spend their time on..."

Sakaki Tetsuro wouldn't call himself a boring person, and neither would any other people. As a teacher he was well known, not particularly hated by his students, and did average over all. It was a nice, quiet life, just like Tetsuro wanted.

And despite that, it was very, very boring. So when a young student of his had asked (more like demanded) him to oversee the Occult & Horror club, the man had given no objection to the idea. Although he himself had no interest in such things, Tetsuro hoped it might be interesting to see children telling each other scary stories.

This, however, was a bit more than he had expected. Meeting after school, in the evening, for some elaborate story telling?

"She's taking this very seriously..." Tetsuro noted, and sighed. Less sleep time for him, he supposed.

He opened the door, and slipped into the room. Hopefully it would just be story telling and not some evil ritual. He really didn't think himself prepared for that sort of thing. He took a seat on at free chair, and waited.

Without any kind of warning, the look of pure concentration plastered on Haruka's face is blown away by sheer delight.

"Found it!" Her sudden outburst fills the small room and calls attention to herself.

Ignoring those gathered around her, she practically skips towards the center of the room. As she enters the circle, she slows her steps and spins to check that everything is in order. Satisfied with her work, Haruka nods and positions herself at the focus of her creation. She'd lost time due to her carelessness, but that didn't matter to her anymore. It was the last day before Golden Week and Haruka had yet to truly entertain all of her club members. She absolutely had to go all out tonight.

As the remaining members sneak in, the main event starts to get under way. A single cry of thunder sounds in the background. The wind howls through the rain soon after. Iddle chatter of personal exploits, investigations, and ghost stories end and the room is given up to silence. As Haruka happily reads over the material in her hands, the shadows teetering on the edge of candlelight become noticeably darker.

"So, as I'm sure you're all aware, I've called this meeting for a very special reason. As residents of Fuyuki, I'm sure you're all aware of the many legends this city has to offer, such as the dragon under the Ryuudou Temple and the Castle in the Forest. But what I'd like to talk to you all about today is the one about the 'Fuyuki Phantoms'. You see, in preparation for this event, I've been conducting a lot of research and I think you'll all be pleased with what your beautiful president has discovered."

As Haruka introduces the subject of the evening, you notice a few of the members snap to full attention. Normally the teen would only avidly discuss mysteries that were based in reality. The story of the Phantoms has been one which has widely been speculated to exist in fantasy. After all, it is a tale of ghostly spirits who've risen from the dead and caused countless disasters over the years. While some have argued the truth behind the story, the legend remains nothing more than a series of events linked together by skepticism. The fact that Haruka would take such an interest in something like that can only be seen as out of character.

"It's a story which dates back over 200 years in Fuyuki's history...and it's one which even seems to be continuing today. Countless people with unknown origins of death, unexplained phenomena during the night, and entire neighborhoods which look like they'd been scorched by hellfire. It's all seems to be part of a ritual situated in this city," Haruka flips a page in her book and looks up with an excited smile on her face, "The Phantom Battles, if you would. Epic battles which leave there mark on our world and then fade away as if they never happened."

"Wait a minute, Haruka," The vice-president who had quietly been listening from the front of the class suddenly speaks up, "I know you tend to get ahead of yourself with these kinds of things, but just take a moment to listen to yourself. This is real life we're talking about here, not some kid's manga. For the stuff you're talking about to happen... it would take nothing short of..."

Justin's words are cut off by the sound of Haruka's foot tapping slowly against the floor. Once again, attention is drawn towards the large formation inscribed in the center of the room. Slowly putting two and two together, a look of disbelief fills the American's face as he looks up into Haruka's eyes. Even in the dim light, even though she was glancing over her shoulder, the confidence in her eyes was as clear as day.

"Ten years ago, a fire engulfed this city and claimed several lives, but no one knew how the fire started nor how it spread so quickly. Around the same time, a large number of children also went missing and later reports would reveal that they'd all been murdered. But what wasn't revealed was the manner in which they were killed," Haruka returns her attention to the book in her hands, her eyes appearing to go over a note in the margins, "'They all looked as if they'd been sacrificed for some kind of ritual' is what was said."

Haruka pauses for a moment as if taking in her own words. The enthusiasm which was flowing from her just seconds ago is practically flushed from her being. This is only momentary though as a light smile soon reappears on her face.

"Furthermore, if you recall, one of our fellow peers was attacked earlier this year, Mitsuzuri Ayako-san. During my investigation, I approached Mitsuzuri-san and asked her to tell me all that she could about the event. Naturally, I didn't get much from her, but what little I did get was pretty interesting... She told me she was attacked by a 'shadow' and felt 'completely drained afterwards'."

For the few who are already knowledgeable on the subject, the cause of Haruka's inquiry is already apparent as the Holy Grail War. It would certainly explain all of the events the president has described and seems to be the most likely answer. The real question however is where the young girl is going with this.

"Geez," Justin lets out a sigh, "People have pretty much been over this already. Bad stuff happens everywhere. Not to mention typically happening in bursts. Unless you're bringing something new to the table, there really isn't a point in talking about this sort of thing."

Justin criticizes his partner once again; however, this time she smiles in response. She turns to face fully and beams at him with a cheeriness unfit for the setting.

"So have you heard about it? ...The Legend of the Seven Warriors from Hell?"

Haruka smiles drives Justin further back into the wall. As Haruka joyful rubs the binding of her book with her fingers, Justin's eyes become fixated on it as if threatened. You notice this sudden change in the American, but it becomes a minor point of interest.

"Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Acedia, Wrath, Envy, Pride, and Vanity... Seven embodiments of sin resurrected as phantoms into our modern world to wage unholy battle for the sake of one wish. It's something that I discovered while going through my great grandfather's books...and something that sounds an awful lot like a certain legend we all know. Apparently, it's a ritual which was formed by using the lives of the living to reach what is known as Akasha. After all, ghosts need energy and there has to be some kind of payoff at the end of it all. So, going off of that, I theorize that all the murders and the incident with Mitsuzuri-san was all a part of the ritual. It was all a way to feed energy to these phantoms."

The room falls silent yet again. The air becomes so dense with tension that it practically becomes a palpable form. But it doesn't seem to affect Haruka at all. Right now, one could pretty much say she's running on confidence alone.

"...Hey, Haruka..." Justin breaks the pause, sounding unsure of if he wants to speak, "I get that you wanted to do something big... and I get that you wanted to tell some kind of ghost story or whatever...But..." The American teen glaces back at the floor, "...what's with the circle?"

The smile on the girl's face broadens. Despite the serious tone with which her partner was now speaking, she remained excited about what was happening.

"Elementary, my dear Watson. You guys are all going to line up around this circle and we're going to figure out whether or not this urban legend is real."

And just like that, Haruka seemed to say the words Justin was fearing the most. But realizing there was nothing he could do to talk his friend out of this, all he could do was remain silent.

"Don't worry, will ya. It's just for fun. It's not like magic is real or anything."

Akira was not the brightest student in the school. No, that would be quite, quite far from the truth, and he knew it as well. He was sure his parents probably would’ve liked it had he paid more attention in class and tried harder, but no matter how hard he tried, he knew his studies would never be his strong point. Rather than his intellectual abilities, he took pride in his physical ones- which might make someone wonder why he was in the Occult club, rather than one of the sports clubs.

But he had his reasons.

Unfortunately, while he did hear most of what the president had been talking about from his position atop one of the desks in the room just now, he still wasn't quite sure what relevance it had to wait they were doing.

Phantoms, spirits who rise from the grave? While such a thing sounded quite cool, and would be indeed interesting if they really existed- he’d certainly love to meet one- in all likelihood, they were just made up tales, things people made up for some reason or other.

The seven sins incarnating and fighting for one wish? That sounded a lot like a light novel plot.

Well, it didn’t seem like that part was too important for what they were doing this afternoon- instead, it seemed like they were going to use the circle to try and call something out.

“So, Pres- what you’re saying is, we’re going to use that circle and try to summon one of those... Phantoms, which you were talking about?” He asked, trying to clarify.

The night unsettled him. It always had, ever since what happened four years back. Especially when he was outside for the very two of the many words which didn’t gel with him.
‘Occult’, and ‘horror’.
One might ask then, why in the world did he join this club in the first place? The answer was simple – because someone claimed that he had some knowledge about it despite his fervent denial of such. Which was true too – he truly didn’t know very much about the supernatural. Shizuka clicked his tongue. He shouldn’t have opened his mouth at that time….
In the end, he didn’t really mind though – even though he was a member, he was only so in name only. He would generally skip out on gatherings and other events.

However, he wasn’t free to skip out this time. After all, it was the prez’s orders – something about her made saying ‘no’ seem enough to seal his finally normal life into something dreadful once more. Especially this once.

So there he was, leaning by the door to the dimly lit room as the young girl was flipping through the thick tome with frustration. He had no reason to say anything, because he was simply happy to listen to the chatter within the rest of the room and wait patiently.

As he did, he decided to calmly scan the room. The red-orange glow of the fading sunset had enveloped the room, making the whole scene something one would expect from a slice-of-life drama, just before people headed off back home, or before the customary outdoor folk dance at the climax of a cultural festival, before vanishing, the only source of light coming from lit candles.
Despite that – or perhaps precisely because of the candlelit night – however, the atmosphere was almost unnatural, as though something prominent in the room made relaxing rather hard and breathing even harder. Almost as though he was not permitted to be himself in the room, but had to keep his back straight, his language formal and his thoughts clean. Rather, from the perspective of Shizuka, a devout follower of the traditional Japanese Shinto-Buddhist faith, it was akin to the atmosphere surrounding a pure shrine, almost like what he had felt before when passing by Ryuudou Temple.

Soon, his eyes were drawn to the circle in the middle of the room. Shizuka knew from the get-go, despite having no true knowledge about such things, that it was undoubtedly a magic circle of sorts. Something in his head twanged, sending a concerto of shivers down his spine as though it were a harp. The very sight of it made him want to walk out.

So he did. He lifted himself off the wall and headed to the door, reaching out for the gri—

“Yo, Pres. Did you find it yet?”
A simple question, asking for a close-ended answer. For some reason it had stopped Kuboiha from touching the door and led him to turn around and look at the prez, awaiting her response. Contemplating why he did so, he reached the conclusion that his clubmate who asked was probably getting impatient. ‘Aah, no wonder,’ he thought as he lightly tapped a loosely clenched fist onto his open palm. ‘It isn’t any surprise that he’d get impatient. Rather, if may work to my advantage – an excuse to le--!’

“Found it!”
Before he could finish his thoughts, the president exclaimed, shattering any hopes he had of leaving. A few seconds in and thunder, wind loudly banging and rain splattering down against the windows, finally setting the atmosphere into one very much suited to this kind of event.
Shizuka didn’t like it. The sounds and the now nigh-complete atmosphere brought back a sense of nostalgia to that day four years back, one which he had been reminded of several times this day, but he had tried to forget since its resolution. But he had little choice in the matter, as awkwardness in leaving and the danger outside quickly convinced him to stay. Defeated, Shizuka remained silent, returning to his post on the wall by the door as he listened to the girl’s anecdote.

Various keywords and phrases popped out at him through her intoduction.
‘Dragon under Ryuudou Temple.’
‘Castle in the Forest.’
These two Shizuka recognised from somewhere before, but he deemed them of little importance.
‘Countless people with unknown origins of death.’
‘Unexplained phenomena during the night.’
‘Entire neighbourhoods which look like they’d been scorched by hellfire.’
‘Ritual’
The boy started to feel uneasy. Something seemed very….off, yet familiar.

“Ten years ago, a fire engulfed this city and claimed several lives, but no one knew how the fire started nor how it spread so quickly. Around the same time, a large number of children also went missing and later reports would reveal that they'd all been murdered. But what wasn't revealed was the manner in which they were killed, 'They all looked as if they'd been sacrificed for some kind of ritual' is what was said.”

…Then he recalled, something else which he knew very well from ten years back, in the very same Fuyuki city. His relatives were killed, his cousin missing. In the living room was what seemed to be a magic circle etched in blood, and there was a pool of blood near the staircase. Or so he had seen in a daze. What was truly there at the scene is unknown, as no one ever disclosed to him the facts.

“Elementary, my dear Watson. You guys are all going to line up around this circle and we're going to figure out whether or not this urban legend is real.”
…Those frightful words snapped him back to reality, much to Shizuka’s dismay. Some part of him wanted to run out of the room screaming and go back home, without regard for the weather. Another part wanted to try persuading the girl to stop doing something so reckless. But regardless of his desires and temptations, his legs were rooted to the ground.

Noticing that the Vice was also feeling at a loss, Shizuka sought to find what little solace he could in that single fact. How very little solace that was, however.

“Y…Y….” The boy swallowed, trying to wet his dry, dusty throat. “You sure put a lot of effort into that history lesson and the circle, prez, despite asserting that magic is false...” He said that half-jokingly, unsure whether he should take this dire situation lightly or not.

Once he said that, he brought his gaze to the circle, curious of its structure.

He was glad the president had managed to find the book she had been looking for. In the end, his help had not been required, but all in all, he was happy to see Haruka on high spirits. With a smile, he returned to his seat and waited patiently for her to begin her story.

It turned out to be some kind of Urban Legend. Something about seven warriors from hell fighting for one wish, all happening in the very same city where they lived. Haruka had cleverly connected the dots between mysterious events in the past decade, and concluded they were all related to the topic in question. Had a proper Magus been listening, then that person would surely identify the story as a rumor born from the last Holy Grail War ten years ago. It could be nothing more than that since part of the information did not match with the mechanics of said ritual. But to Fukuda Masahiro? Well, it was nothing more than a cool story. True, he had seen 'magic' at work with his very own eyes, and not only him but others too, so he was convinced of its existence. But something as absurd as what the president was suggesting... Let's say he had his doubts. Still, he was willing to try it out. Back in the orphanage, when the small boys that lived there could not go to the bathroom because of certain myth involving a mirror and repeating a name three times, he had been the one to step up and prove it was nothing more than a fantasy. Needless to say, he had been somewhat scared too, but he had tried it, nonetheless. Today would be the same.
"All right. Might as well give it a shot."

Saying that, he was the first to follow the president's orders and stand next to the improvised magic circle. It was then when the penny dropped. What had Haruka just said a couple of minutes ago? He tried to recall...

"Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Acedia, Wrath, Envy, Pride, and Vanity... Seven embodiments of sin resurrected as phantoms into our modern world to wage unholy battle for the sake of one wish."

Yeah, there was definitely something wrong with that sentence.
"Wait, Pres... You said that there were seven warriors, each named after a sin, no? However, I remember you naming nine sins. What's up with that?"

He scratched his head, his curiosity demanding an answer to that question.

[18:30] RacingeR: Max S.Link with hero is when you promise your daughter to him
[18:31] RacingeR: Which means Airen and me are the only ones that maxed it (I promised Spin to him, and Spin is my daughter)
[18:32] hero: oh shit
[18:32] hero: spincess get
[18:32] hero: suck it fuckers

Seeing some truth in what his clubmate asked, Shizuka listened out the answer, as he reluctantly headed toward the circle. Indeed, the seven sins were out of his interests, so he knew very little of them, but now that Fukuda-san had mentioned it, he could at least understand that nine does not equal to two.

Tetsuro didn't usually care about magic rituals, but what the club president had said was too interesting for even him to safely ignore.
Seven deadly sins? Murders 10 years ago? Summoning ritual? It was much too interesting for him to not pay attention to. He had kept an eye open during his student's explanation, and a few things had struck him as odd.

However, before he could say anything some of his more perceptive students asked the one of the questions he had been meaning to ask. Why nine sins? It was certainly a curious dilemma, but it was not the main problem of the matter. No, Tetsuro was concerned about something else.

"Ah, Miss President..." His quiet and even voice cut through the soft murmuring occurring around the room. "Forgive me for interrupting, but I do have one small concern." He hadn't missed the fidgeting and nervous behaviours of a few of the students. Surely a few of them were possibly quite a bit... nervous. That would not do. So he spoke up from his seat near the back of the room. It wasn't normal for a teacher to interrupt a student club meeting, but it was also his duty to make sure nothing dangerous would happen to his students.

"While I do think that this ritual and story is quite fascinating..." He continued. "You did mention something about murders occurring in conjunction with this story, as well as summoning the incarnations of the deadly sins. Can I assume that you have taken the appropriate... safety measures to make sure nothing unfortunate happens?" He had heard of what Mitsuzuri had gone through from colleagues, and such a thing happening to the Occult & Horror Club would be most unfortunate.

Maiko had heard of the great fire before, even though her family only mvoed to Fuyuki 2 years ago, but it being connected to some strange "ritual" was something new to her. It didn't really help her inner tension. Tempting evil spirits was not something one should do for fun, and it could end badly for everyone involved. Dismising the existence of such beings as superstition was foolish in her opinion

But would anyone listen to her if she warned them? Would Haruka just pack up her things, erase the magic circle and be done with it, turning it into a boring sleepover at school? Maiko would be the buzzkill again, and she'd lose the little social contacts she had. And all of this because of a bad gut feeling. Still she wanted to say something, maybe she could make her reconsider her actions.

A light illuminated the night for the briefest of moment, before dying and leaving behind just a small eye of fire that stared at the alley cats that crept through the dark hours of Fuyuki City. The person holding this source of light took a drag from the cigarette and blew out the smoke while savoring the taste. She absent-mindedly fixed the ribbon of her uniform while staring off into the distant space that is called “sky”.

Moon acted as a sort of spotlight for Rolanda A. Knox.

Now that nearly all teachers and students had left the building, she could indulge herself into her small vice. Not many people knew about it. This was, of course, she was very careful in maintaining her appearance as a foreign honor-student with the personality of an angel and innocence of Virgin Mary. Well, that did not mean she was going to give birth to the savior any time soon. In fact, if Rolanda had to guess, she would have given birth to a new Moriarty or something.

“I give to you and you give to me. True love, true love. So on and on it will always be. True love, true love…”

Rolanda quietly hummed herself, reciting one of her least favorite songs. She never really saw the idea on singing the songs you loved; those you could remember anytime.
------- But remembering what you disliked……..now there was a challenge.

Eventually Rolanda finished her cigarette, threw it to the ground and stumped it with her heel. Then she proceeded to move some sand on top of the stump to cover it. Simple, but in the corner of the school-building it would not gather too much attention. She picked up her school bag, took some perfume and covered the smell of cigarette with it, before proceeding to leave the shadowy spot and enter the building.

She had heard the club president announce that there would be something worth of interest happening this night.

“For you and I have a guardian angel. On high with nothing to do. But to give to you and to give to me. Love forever true.”

Rolanda was not really a fan of the president. If she had to choose, her feelings were more akin to annoyance. But, the club was interesting enough way to pass time while she was finishing her educations here in Japan. A way to add something to her “vacation” before she would tackle the load of work she had been given.

Eventually, she was standing in front of the club room’s door. With a graceful move she opened it and slipped inside, placing a gentle smile on her face once more. It was the type of smile that made people instantly lower their guards. Innocent, slightly intelligent but not too much, a smile that nearly called for trusting the person wearing it.

Just the kind of smile that was useful for Rolanda.

“I apologize for my tardiness. However, I---“

“Found it!”

Well, well. Seems like she has come up with something new to insult my little grey cells again.

In her mind, Rolanda rolled her eyes.

She stayed silent and quietly slipped into a chair nearby, listening to the conversation while watching the crowd that had gathered. It seemed that Kurogane was her somewhat insecure self, her body language betraying intense thoughts about something other than what was currently happening. Walker and Ivanov were polar opposites in their demeanor, and their apparent feelings towards the idiotic show that the president had created.

The most pleasure Rolanda got from watching Kisaragi’s pitiful eyes as she pined after the ever-oblivious Fukuda. Seeing such unrequited love cause pain to the girl made her feel all giddy, and had she not been in school, she would have probably burst into laughter and ridiculed her straight to her face.

------------- But as that option was not option to her, Rolanda simply settled for eating a chocolate-cookie she fished out from her bag.

While she thoughts about this, Rolanda’s other brain cells were processing the bunch of nonsense the president was feeding them, along with the reactions of the other students. It seemed that either the president could not count (which would not have surprised Rolanda), or that there was more to the story (Which she had forgotten to mention; not a surprise, either).

"Wait, Pres... You said that there were seven warriors, each named after a sin, no? However, I remember you naming nine sins. What's up with that?"

“Now, now, Fukuda-san. Surely the president has a reason to not include the other two”, Rolanda said with a sweet tone. “We are High School students, after all. Elementary level mathematics should be possible for all, no?”

And then the teacher who styled himself as boring like an actor from a bad theater troupe spoke up.

“While I do think that this ritual and story is quite fascinating…You did mention something about murders occurring in conjunction with this story, as well as summoning the incarnations of the deadly sins. Can I assume that you have taken the appropriate... safety measures to make sure nothing unfortunate happens?"

“Surely you jest, Sakaki-sensei”, Rolanda answered with a pleasant giggle. “Of course our president would not be such an air-head that she would not ensure our safety, even when dealing with possible mysteries and supernatural phenomena. Is it not the duty of the club president to care about the well-being of the members of her club?”

A mask of honor student saying words that sounded nothing but genuine and caring, only filled with utter trust towards her peers and kindness in general.

They were the favorite type of insults Rolanda A. Knox sowed around her.

The seemingly urgent shout came from an unkempt, dark haired boy as seemingly intently stared at the desk in front of him. His chair was lying in the floor, seemingly pushed over as he had jumped up from his position, and he was shaking his, rather skinny looking, fist at the table. His heated voice echoed through the classroom.

At what appeared to be a black handheld game system of some sort.

"What with this completely formulaic plot construction? Judging from the reviews, this should be a "masterpiece" with an innovative and unique storyline, but this is just a fancy rehash of the same themes you have shot out for the past three or four games, just more convuluted in it's execution! Increasing the number of completely arbitrary secondary characters to the main plot does not cooount! "

"Give me my money baaaack!"

Raising his dark brown, almost black, eyes towards the sky, he raised his fist and now shook it at seemingly heavens themselves.

“Surely you jest, Sakaki-sensei”, Rolanda answered with a pleasant giggle. “Of course our president would not be such an air-head that she would not ensure our safety, even when dealing with possible mysteries and supernatural phenomena. Is it not the duty of the club president to care about the well-being of the members of her club?”

Tetsuro turned towards the one who had addressed him. Ah, the foreign student. One of Tetsuro's more interesting students. Interesting enough for him to remember her name, at least.

"Sadly, I do not jest, Miss Knox, although I am glad to see you have faith in our president's competence." Tetsuro replied with a gentle smile dancing across his face. "While I am sure that the club president has everything perfectly under control and she has my confidence, it is nonetheless prudent to be certain of such things, especially when playing with fire." Yes. Even if the chance of something bad happening was infinitely small, as long as it wasn't zero, there was no reason for Tetsuro to hesitate.

"And..." He continued, his eyes burning with a rekindled curiosity. "I am quite interested in how the president intends to control whatever might... possibly be summoned from this ritual."